The Scales Are Tilted
by Animateia
Summary: There's a new exorcist in the order and he has some knowledge of Allen's past. Read to find out what happens. I'm not good at writing summaries. Sorry! disclaimer:I don't own any characters except Eric and Timothy.
1. Profile

Eric Walker - the only character I own

Age: 16 Years old

Eye color-silver-blue/Noah-golden-yellow

Hair color-black

Height-5'8

Personality: Very likable kinda like Allen Walker, if withdrawn and is half Noah

Blood: O Negative

Noh Power-can control the shadows and is able to exorcise akuma just like Innocence but doesn't kill its soul

Innocence type-parasitic

Location: Innocence is located near front of brain.

Innocence Ability: The Innocence will allow conformer to go directly into the network of the akuma and release the soul leaving the machine intact but useless without the power source. Usually takes several seconds depending on the akuma's level and can exorcise up to 20 level 1s at once.

Apprentice to: General Cross

Nationality:???

Birthday: December 24, XXXX

History:???

Hobbies/Talents: Can play the piano, cook any type of food you can think of, enjoys reading, writing, and learning, and has a photographic memory


	2. Chapter 1

_I'm sooo going to KILL Master for this. _

Panting from exhaustion, Eric slick his messy hair back and continues his way towards the Black Order Headquarters. "Stop right there! State your name and what you are doing here." asked River through a golem. "I'm Eric Walker and I am Cross's apprentice. I was sent here with a letter to prove who I am in order to become an exorcist and to avoid the incident that happened here last time with the other apprentice and Komui," replied Eric as he handed a golem the letter from Cross. As it flew off, he gave a huge breath of relief and sat down to rest his aching feet from his climb up to the tower.

"It seems that you aren't lying, Eric, now approach the gate so the gatekeeper can scan you."

Stepping forward, Eric blinked as the bright light from the scan temporarily blinded him. "HE'S CLEAR!" cried the gatekeeper and the gate slowly began to creak open. Quietly, he walked in and, coincidentally, ran into Lenalee, who was rushing down to show him around. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" she cried as Eric painfully rubbed the newly acquired bump on his head. Sighing, Eric stood up and began to shake Lenalee's hand, telling her it was okay and that it didn't hurt that much. Lenalee gasped when she saw Eric's face. "OH, MY GOD! YOU LOOK JUST LIKE ALLEN!" "Allen who?" Eric asked confused. "Moyashi, Komui called us, we have another mission and when did you dye your hair black?" Kanda asked. "WAIT A MINUTE! JUST WHO IS THIS ALLEN OR MOYASHI OR WHATEVER YOU CALL HIM!?!?!"Eric asked already pissed at being mistaken for someone else just as that certain somone came walking by.

"Hey, there you are Kanda, who is tha-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


	3. Chapter 2

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Just then Lavi walked by saying, "Hey guys! What's with all the screa- OH MY GOD! DID KOMUI ACTUALLY SUCCEED IN CLONING ALLEN?!?!?"

"No, it's just another Moyashi that's going to die on its first mission," Kanda said with one of those anime-vein (note-I'm going to call them ani-veins for short okay) things popping from his head.

"You know it's not nice to call someone beansprout when they're only _slightly _smaller than you." retorted Eric and ironically, he _was_ a good deal taller than Allen but still an inch or two shorter than either Kanda or Lavi.

"Why is Komui trying to clone me? AND MY NAME IS ALLEN!" Allen asked/yelled at Kanda and Lavi.

"Nii-san," Lenalee moaned slightly embarrassed.

Eric's ears perked up and suddenly had the urge to run as the group began to hear a loud rumbling in the distance. Following his instincts, Eric proceeded to run down the opposite hallway.

"LENALEE, WHAT'S TAKING SOOOO LONG!? YOUR NII-SAN'S WORRIED! YOU'RE NOT FLIRTING WITH THE NEW EXOCIST ARE YOU? NOOO! LENALEE DON'T I WON'T LET HIM TAKE YOU!!!! KOMURIN IV! GET RID OF HIM!!!!"

**CRASH!!! BOOM!!!**

The newest Komurin (it was just like Komurin III but had more weapons) broke though the wall and scanned the area for traces of Eric and (unfortunately) found his footprints and followed after him.

To be continued…

I love cliff hangers.

If you have any ideas on what I should do to Eric with Komurin...PLEASE TELL ME!! I already know how to destroy him.


	4. Chapter 3

"NII-SAN! DON'T GO AND KILL THE NEW EXORCIST!" Lenalee screamed over her brother's loud crying and whining over her.

**KABLAM!!**

There's a huge explosion down the corridor and (finally getting out of the shock) Kanda, Allen, and Lavi head off to help Eric. When they get to the room, however, the trio sees Eric with an eerie green Innocence-like glow surrounding him and a Komurin floating in the air dismantling itself bolt by bolt.

Suddenly, Komui's voice comes out from nowhere saying, "NOO! DON'T DO THAT TO MY KOMURIN!" followed by a dart loaded with a large dose of animal tranquilizer.

Allen and Lavi watched in awe as Eric coolly catches it mid-air (Kanda just "tche'd"), a feat no one in the entire Order has ever done, and continues dismantling Komurin.

"OH NOOO! THAT WAS MY LAST DART! I'M SORRY KOMURIN! I COULDN'T SAVE YOU!" Komui wailed, finally appearing out of a vent. Without turning around, Eric uses his Innocence on Komui and ties the sobbing supervisor up with a nearby rope.

After Komurin was nothing but a pile of bolts and when everyone thought it was safe, Lavi proceeded to glomp Eric excitedly saying, " THAT WAS SOO COOL ERIC-CHAN! HOW DID YOU DO THAT WITHOUT GETTING A SCRATCH?" and continued to blurt out the entire history of the Komurins.

"Well, you see, that was … ummm… I don't know how to say this...but that was… my Innocence," Eric replied with struggled breaths (Lavi was squeezing too hard) and had a look that clearly said GET HIM OFF OF ME BEFORE I DO SOMETHING PAINFUL TO HIM. After Kanda asked/threatened Lavi to get the heck off of the new exorcist (that had just earned his respect in less than twenty minutes of meeting him), Eric turns to Allen begins to shake his hand and says, "Well, Idiot apprentice, meet Cross's Damned apprentice," all the while smiling a sadistic smile.


	5. Chapter 4

"What do you mean by 'Damned Apprentice,' Eric?" Allen asked after he had let go of his hand.

"Hmm, let's see. Let's just say I tried to turn his life into a living _HELL_," Eric replied with a smirk.

"I'll tell you the whole story later, Allen, I have to drag the supervisor back to his office and give him a very important letter from Cross and to check my synchronization percentage with my Innocence." Eric said as he helped Lenalee drag her (now unconscious) brother back to his office. When they finally reached his office, Komui was awake and untied. Heading straight for his desk, Komui dismisses Lenalee and turned to face Eric (who was currently digging through the pockets of his jacket to find the letter).

Handing the letter to Komui, Eric watched as Komui's expression changed from serene to shock as Komui began gaping at him with his mouth open.

Bracing himself for the massive amounts of questions, Eric quickly stated, "Cross said to not tell the commander-in-chiefs about this."

"Alright, I won't tell but can I bring Bookman in here so he can record this?" Komui asked.

Eric sighed, he knew this was coming. "My Idiot Master said it was alright to tell only _**one**_ of the Bookman clan about this, and I'd prefer it not to be Lavi."

"Okay, now tell me how you knew Lavi was a Bookman? That information is practically secret." inquired Komui.

"My Innocence allows me to go into the mind of others as well as akuma and I am also able to control things like you witnessed with Komurin." Eric replied wanting to get this over with. "Now, may you please call Bookman in here?"

"Oh, yes, right! Lenalee! Can you go get Bookman for us?" Komui shouted and a muffled "Yes, Nii-san" was heard in response.

A little shuffle is heard and the door opens a few minutes later.

"What did you call me for, Komui?" Bookman asked in his dry raspy voice.

"Read this letter from Cross and then you will understand," Komui replied even though there was a hint of fear in his voice as he glanced at the bored Eric.


	6. Chapter 5

Even with his years of experience, Bookman could not suppress a gasp that echoed in the room as he read the letter. Looking straight at Eric with shocked eyes, Bookman asked, "Is this true?"

"What are you asking about, Bookman? The fact that I'm a Noah? The fact that I'm Allen's long lost older brother? Or everything about the letter? Hmmm?" Eric retorted.

"Everything," was Bookman's answer and began to stare at Eric with expecting eyes.

"Okay, let's start at the beginning," Eric began.

"Little does Allen know that Mana, our father, was married. Mana was a Pureblood Noah but our mother, Kana, was human, which is to explain why I'm only half-Noah. When Allen was born and I was two, Mana found out that the Earl was looking for him. He and Kana agreed to each take one of us and separate so the Earl and the other Noah couldn't find us and force Allen and me, particularly me, to work for him till we kicked the bucket. Thus, we were separated and Kana and I never heard from them again. Before Kana died, she trained me to use my Innocence and told me about the Earl. Should she ever die, she warned me to look for Cross because he was a friend of hers and Mana's and also the only person who knew about our family and my, um, condition. Kana died a peaceful death around the time Allen arrived here and Cross "abandoned" him in India to search me out. I, then, spent the next four months training with Cross and torturing him in my spare time. After he got fed up with my torturing, erm, _methods,_ Cross sent me here."

Some silence……

**"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! _YOU _****TORTURED CROSS!?!?"**

" Seriously, what did you do to him that was so bad he sent you here?" Komui asked through teary eyes from laughing so hard. Eric thought for a moment before answering.

"Let's see…before I left, I put ice in his pants, hat, and jacket while he was sleeping," Eric replied with a quirky but evil grin. An even bigger burst of laugh came from Komui after that comment and even a very rare chuckle came from Bookman.


	7. Chapter 6

Finally recovering from his laughing, Komui asked, "So if you're half-Noah is Allen a Noah too?"

"No, fortunately, he isn't," Eric replied. "There seem to be a lot of perks if you're only half-Noah though, now, that I think about it."

"Like what?"Bookman inquired hoping to get more information about the elusive Noah clan.

In a bored voice, Eric replied, "For one and very **important** detail, **I don't have to obey the Earl like the** **Purebloods** and I don't have any of their weaknesses either, which explains why I can use Innocence. I don't have a Noah side but I get all the advantages of being a Noah like regeneration and long life, and the only thing that would ever reveal my identity is if I were to use my powers. The only problem is whenever I do use my powers; I end up having golden eyes and wearing a tux and hat getup like the one Tyki wears(no crosses on my forehead or gray skin though, whew)."

There was a rush of air as Komui began vigorously shaking Eric.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS, ERIC?"Komui screamed excitedly.

"WWWHHHAATTT?"Eric stammered.

"WE FINALLY HAVE AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE!" Komui squealed letting go of Eric and doing a little victory dance.

"Komui?" Eric stammered still dizzy.

"What?"

"Can I go get my synchronization rate from Heblaska yet?"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Komui yelped as he ran out the door dragging Eric behind him.


	8. Chapter 7

Rubbing his sore ass from Komui dragging him all the way to the platform, Eric began to observe his surroundings. Keeping his balance when the platform came to an abrupt stop, Eric kept his cool as a pair of ghostly white hands began to grab him and pull him up into the air. Eric wasn't surprised when he saw Heblaska because when he had introduced himself, he had quickly scanned everyone's mind as a precaution. Lowering her head and touching his, Eric relaxed as a tingling feeling came to his body, like the feeling he had the last time the whole family was together. "…72...83...95...99.9," Heblaska spoke in her mystical yet clear voice. "It seems that your highest synchronization rate is 99.9, young one." There was a mumble as the commander-in-chiefs mumbled about themselves.

"No one's had a synchro-rate that high…"

"Yes, not even Cross had it that high when he came…"

As Heblaska gently put Eric back down, the whole room became quiet as they waited for a prediction.

"Your future is hazy, Eric, there are many choices you must make. You could bring us salvation or lead us to ruin, and your path is entwined with that of Allen Walker's and another of whom I cannot make out. That is your fate, Scale Breaker." And as silently as she came, Heblaska disappeared.

With a heavy sigh, Komui pulled a lever and the platform began moving up.

"Crap!" Eric cursed his luck, turning to Komui, he asked, "This probably means I'm gonna harder missions, doesn't it?"

Sighing again, Komui replied with a saddening, "Yes."

"You know, every time you sigh, you lose 10 years of happiness, right? And you've just sighed four times since I've met you!" Eric joked, trying to lighten the dreary mood.

Chuckling, Komui replied, "Then that means I shouldn't be laughing for the next 40 years!"

They both burst out in laughter and Komui felt slightly happier and less guilty as he watched Eric run down the hallway to find Allen and the other exorcists.


	9. Chapter 8

"…and then, I dropped snakes and worms on Cross and his date!"

A large burst of laughter exploded from the entire science department as they listened to Eric's hilarious tales from traveling with Cross. Wiping tears from their eyes, the scientists went back to work as Reever began shouting at them between his very girly-like giggle fits.

"Allen! Eric! Lavi! Nii-san wants to see us! We have a mission!" Lenalee yelled from the door.

**In Komui's Office**

"There seems to be a **very** strange phenomenon occurring in the capitol city of Spain, Madrid, and it's spreading to most of the surrounding areas." Komui stated nervous for all of them, especially for Eric because this was his first mission.

"How strange, Komui?" Allen asked curious.

"Strange as in adults are turning into kids and growing up again, and the kids growing up and all of them are stopping at puberty (eeeewww)."

"Nii-san, will we be affected by this?" Lenalee asked worried about puberty part of the mission.

"No, I believe you won't be affected because all of you are still going through puberty and (cough) you all have Innocence."

"Hey, Komui, isn't this a little too difficult for a first mission?" Lavi asked curious as to why Eric had to come along.

Looking straight at Eric, Komui asked, "You still haven't told them?"

"Didn't tell anyone actually," Eric replied.

"Tell anyone what?" Lenalee questioned, now interested in Eric's little secret.

"The reason Eric is going with you is because the commander-in-chiefs hope that a mission as hard as this will bring Eric's 99.9 synchro-rate to 100 or higher," Komui replied while sweatdrops began appearing on Eric, who had already started backing up to the door while the others were preoccupied.

"Oh EEEEEEEEEEEEEERRIIC-CHAAAAAAAN!"

Eric winced as he heard Lavi's pet name for him before slowly turning around and then wishing he didn't.

To be continued…..


	10. Chapter 9

When he turned around, Eric ended up seeing Allen's black side and the evilest looks Eric had ever seen on either Lavi's or Lenalee's faces. There was a moment of silence before Eric timidly asked, "What?"

**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! GET THEM OFF OF MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"**

Reever chose that moment to look inside Komui's office and see Eric underneath a very large dogpile that consisted of Lenalee, Lavi, Allen, and Komui (he did it because he was afraid one of the boys might see Lenalee's underwear).

"OH MY GOD! ERIC ARE YOU OKAY?!!?!?"

"…can't……..breathe……help…"

Shoving a giggling Lavi and everyone in the pile off, Reever checked to see if Eric was still breathing which (thank God) he still was.

After Eric recovered from the dogpile, Komui decided at that moment to tell them that their train was leaving in an twenty minutes. There was a very loud _whoosh_ as the exorcists scrambled off to pack their things.

**On The Train**

"Eric, I just realized this, but how are you going to communicate with everyone if you don't have a golem?" Lavi asked out of the blue.

"Oh, I have Timothy but he doesn't want to come out right now," Eric replied.

"Timothy?"

"That's his name, but I call him Timmy for short sometimes. Do you want to see him?"

"Sure."

Rummaging through his pockets, Eric managed to pull out a struggling silver version of Timcampy. Seeing a new playmate, Timothy and Timcampy began to flutter around each other.

"Why does he look like Timcampy?" Allen asked.

"Ain't it obvious? Cross made him after you took Timcampy."

"Oh."

There was a couple minutes of silence before Lavi stood up and began to inspect Eric, and, getting REALLY annoyed, Eric began to ask, "What the hell are you doing, Lavi?" but the train had other ideas and hit a bump, sending Lavi off balance and falling onto Eric and accidentally kissing him. Eric, who began blushing a deeper shade of red than Allen, the witness who was already blushing a shade of red that rivaled Lavi's hair before fainting, rapidly pushed Lavi back into his seat and stayed quiet the whole train ride thinking, _Lavi just stole my FIRST kiss!_ Lavi also stayed quiet, but he was thinking about how sweet Eric's lips were. Both were glad that Lenalee was outside talking with Toma and didn't see them.


	11. Chapter 10

**In Madrid**

After arriving in the city, the whole group was surprised to the whole entire place being operated by 10 year olds. "How is this possible?" Allen asked hoping the kids knew what they were doing.

"Um, I think the Innocence only affected their bodies not their minds and that's how they're able to do all this," Lavi suggested watching a kid oil the engine so skillfully it was as though he had been doing it all his life.

"I don't know but let's just find the hotel and start looking for leads," Lenalee said hoping nothing bad will happen.

**At The Hotel**

After exploring their very expensive looking rooms, the group met back at the hotel's café to eat a quick lunch and discuss the mission.

"Hey, Eric, how come you don't eat as much as Allen?"(Lavi)

"My Innocence doesn't use as much energy as his does," Eric answered plainly while eating a tortilla.

"After we eat, Allen, Toma, and Lenalee should search the east side of the city for clues, and Lavi and I could search the west side, after Allen-kun is finished eating of course," Eric added wiping his mouth and smirking at Lavi, who was currently counting how many jalapeños Allen could eat. As soon as Allen, Toma, and Lenalee were out of sight, Eric turned around and kneed Lavi square in the crotch and sadistically smiled as he watched the soon-to-be-Bookman-in-training began writhing on the ground in pain.

"What was that for?" Lavi wheezed as continued to wince from the obvious pain.

"For stealing my first kiss," Eric replied with an extremely evil grin before dragging Lavi down the street to look for clues.


	12. Chapter 11

"Ummm…. I think this stuff started happening when the priests put that monument of Ave María in the plaza four days ago. She was very pretty with that shiny, glowing, green, square jewel in her crown. Are you going to visit her, Mister?"

"Green stone, eh? Yes, I think I might visit her. Thanks kid, here's some money, and go buy yourself some candy," Eric whispered to the little girl and slipping her some money while Lavi wasn't looking. "Hey Lavi! Let's go look at the statue of Ave María!"

"What? Why?"

"Because that's the only the thing that's changed in this city, and my "informant" told me there was a **little, glowing, green jewel** in her crown."

"Quick! Let's go find Allen and Lenalee and find that statue!"

In his excitement, Lavi didn't notice that in the nearby alley, Tyki and Rhode had heard their whole conversation.

"This is going to be fun, won't it, Tyki?"

"Hmm, we may need to look out for the new Exorcist though, I don't see him holding any Innocence or sense any on him, but his aura seems to match ours."

"Does mean what I think it means?"

"Yes, we may have found another brother, Rhode," Tyki replied with an ominous chuckle before they faded into the shadows.


	13. Chapter 12

Sensing a presence, Eric turned around only to end up seeing an empty street.

"Is something wrong?" Lavi asked watching Eric stare intensely at a nearby alley.

"No, nothing, let's go," Eric replied shrugging off the feeling he got from the alley and jogging to catch up with Lavi.

**At the Statue**

"HOLY SHIT! That's one HUGE statue," Lavi yelled as the group reached the 1000 foot statue. "Who is gonna volunteer to go up there?"

All eyes stared pointedly at Lavi.

"Whoops, stupid question. EXTEND!"

WHAM!

Eric turned around just in time to see Lenalee fall.

CRACK!

Looking to his left, Allen fell. The last thing Eric remembered was feeling an enormous pain at the back of his head and seeing an unconscious Lavi being carried down in Tyki's arms before blacking out.

Regaining consciousness, Eric groggily looked around to find him and his fellow exorcists chained to a wall. Nudging the nearby Allen awake, Eric quickly asked if Allen knew where they were as he noticed the shock of recognition on Allen's face.

"ERIC, WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! THIS IS RHODE'S WORLD!" Allen yelled panicking as memories from the last time he was there came flooding back to him and in his jostling, woke up Lenalee and Lavi.

"Hehehe, it seems that the little exorcists are awake," Rhode commented as she appeared from the darkness with Tyki who was shoving the newly found Innocence in his pocket. "Don't even try to use your Innocence, exorcists, in this world you can't use them. You're just wasting energy, Allen-kun. Only Noah powers can work here."

_Noah powers, huh? Damn it, I didn't want to use it in front of all of them, but I might have to in order to even have a chance to even get us all out of here with the Innocence._ Eric thought as he got ready to invoke his Noah powers.

"Let's play with the new exorcist first, Tyki, just to see what he can do," Rhode piped as she had the shackles around Eric's disappear.

"Thank goodness, I was wondering if I had to get out of them myself," Eric said wearily as he got up dusting off his exorcist robes.

Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee gasped as a black aura began surrounding Eric and shadows casted off by the light from Rhode's pointed candles converged together, forming a swirling dome around Eric. When the shadows had finally dispersed, the trio stared at Eric, now garbed in Noah's clothes.

With a sad smile, Eric formed a brilliant katana with some nearby shadows and said, "Shall we begin the game?"


	14. Chapter 13

"Since this isn't a very fair game, in order to be even, either you or Rhode should go into my "Nightmare Realm," Tyki," Eric stated as he conjured up a portal close to the two Noah siblings.

"Oh! I wanna go! Can I Tyki?" Rhode asked pouting.

"Do what you want, Rhode, but be careful," Tyki cautioned as Rhode gleefully skipped into the portal.

"I bet three bucks she won't come out as sane as she is now," Eric stated as he closed the portal. It now looked like a Rhode-sized floating black cocoon.

"What makes you say that?" Tyki inquired as he got his two giant Tease ready for battle.

A loud scream suddenly permeates and echoes throughout the room, followed by loud whimpers, and more screaming. Lenalee gasped as she recognized the voice as Rhode's.

"That's my reason," Eric stated plainly and brandishing his sword, lunged at Tyki.

Lavi had never seen a battle as intense as the one he was watching between Eric and Tyki in all his years of being Bookman's apprentice. Each hit, each block, so in sync that it seemed like the two were dancing. The force of each of their attacks shook the room. Injuries gained healed in a second, both fighters grinning like madmen with a thirst to see the other's blood spilt. Rhode's screams in the background only helped enhance the intensity of the battle. A little jangle from his chains caused Lavi to tear his attention away from the battle.

"Timothy!" Lavi gasped only to receive a swat from golem's tail. Timothy then faced Lavi's chains again and resumed chewing them with his indestructible teeth, loosening them to the point where Lavi could yank himself off the wall. Muffling Lenalee and Allen, Lavi pointed at Timothy (who was flying back towards Eric) and began lock-picking their shackles. Seeing Timothy flying towards him, Eric knew he had stalled long enough. Leaving an opening he knew Tyki would take advantage of, Eric side-stepped Tyki and swiftly hit him in the back of the neck with the hilt of his sword which promptly knocked Tyki out. Pulling the Innocence out of Tyki's pocket and stuffing it into his own, Eric ran over to the others opening another portal in the process. Pushing Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi into the portal (which lead to their hotel room) Eric deactivated his Nightmare Realm before jumping through himself, and closing it.

"What the heck was that about? How did you do that? What are you?..." Lavi asked with like a billion other questions only to stop when he noticed Eric (now in human form) was clutching his chest and coughing violently into his hand. Lenalee (finally recovering from shock) began screaming as blood began dripping between Eric's gloved fingers and ran off to call her brother. Allen and Lavi could only stare helplessly as Eric continued to cough brutally for several minutes before collapsing from blood loss whispering, "I'm sorry for not telling you little brother, Allen…"


	15. Chapter 14

Allen's mind stopped right then. _Did Eric just say I'm his brother?_ Lavi, noticing that the naive boy had stopped breathing, promptly smacked him in the head and walked to Eric's unconscious body and began lugging it toward the bed. Dazed from the hit, Allen remembered about the Innocence and asked Lavi where it was. Digging around in Eric's pockets, Lavi managed to produce the Innocence and a little golden locket. Not wanting to disturb Eric's privacy until he woke up, Lavi pocketed the locket and tossed the Innocence into the air to be caught by Timcampy, (who finally decided to show himself) who swallowed/stored it. The door slammed open. Lenalee, finished talking to her brother, stomped into the room with a ticking ani-vein on her head. _Eric is SOOO busted._ Lavi and Allen thought as they began backing away into a corner of the room away from Eric. Steam was literally coming out of Lenalee's ears. There was a small rustle as Eric began waking up. Blinking from the brightness in the room, Eric slowly sat up and yawned.

"Yo."

"Yo?!? That's all you can say?! After seeing you practically transform into a Noah in front of our eyes and coughing up blood right after escaping, all you can say is yo?!" Lenalee yelled letting all her pent up anger out in a long lecture at Eric, who was pretty much unfazed.

"One, what I'm going to tell you was only on a need-to-know basis with Komui and Bookman. Two, yes, Allen, you are my little brother. And three, I'll answer all you questions if you give me time to recover from my "Repentance" mode of my Innocence." Eric stated wearily still tired after losing about several pints of blood as a small "o" appeared on Lenalee's mouth.

"Repentance mode?" Lavi asked.

"It's the only thing that keeps my Noah powers and Innocence from fighting and my Innocence from turning me into a Togaochi (for those who don't remember, it means Fallen One)," Eric said reaching into his pocket to give Lenalee the Innocence only to find out both it and his mother's locket missing. Pulling out the locket, Lavi quickly explained why he had it hoping Eric wouldn't do worse than Kanda did when he pissed him off. There was a quiet silence before Eric reached out his hand and took the locket back; opening it so only he could see the picture, a single tear cascaded down his cheek before he wiped it away and closed the locket.

Coming out of his corner, Allen timidly, but willfully asked,"Are you really my family?"


	16. Chapter 15

"You really don't believe me, do you?" Eric asked with a sigh as he saw Allen's distrusting face.

"Of course I don't! Unless you have some proof, I won't believe a single word you say about "our" family," Allen said with a **very** determined voice.

"You want proof, I'll show you proof. I Just want you all to promise me that you, especially Allen, will not interfere with or get involved with any affairs I have in the future because of a promise I made to Mana and Kana and will not tell anyone what went on in this room unless it's an emergency," Eric said making sure to have eye contact with everyone in the room as they gave him a chorus of promises."This also applies to Kanda although he isn't here right now."

Taking out the locket again, Eric opened it to reveal a small picture of a woman with light brown hair, blue eyes that had a slight sparkle of life in them, and a warm smile, like Allen's, holding a baby in her arms. The baby she was holding looked like a smaller, brown-haired, baby version of Allen. Next to the two was a what looked like a thirty-year old man in a black business suit (guys this is Mana but I have absolutely no idea how describe him so I'm going to stop) holding a smiling little boy that seemed to look very much like the guy only he had the girl's blue eyes. The family looked really happy in the photo.

"Are those who I think I think they are?" Allen asked not believing what he saw as Eric handed him the locket for a better look.

"You should recognize Mana, and, obviously, the two bouncing babies in there are us," Eric said with a smirk on his face as he remembered the day the family had taken that picture. Slowly tears ran down his face as Eric remembered that both Mana and Kana were gone and that they couldn't have any more days like that ever again. Wiping the tears away with his hand, Eric watched as a glint like Kana's appeared in Allen's eyes as he looked at the picture with a hope of knowing more about his past. Lavi spoke tearing Eric out of his thoughts with the question, "Eric, What exactly did you do to Rhode to make her scream like that?"

"Oh, that. You know how Rhode messes with people's minds in her world?"

"Yeah."

"Well, my Nightmare Realm is kinda like that but with a significant difference, it makes your worst nightmares come true instead. There are three levels to this that I can choose from: everyday fears, personal fears, and the absolute fear in your heart. In the first level, you face your own everyday fears magnified about ten times, you know, mice, spiders and the like, only bigger. In the second stage, you face off with fears your **family**** or ****friends**have in **their** hearts. In the last level…"

"What about it?" Lavi asked, wondering why Eric never finished his sentence.

"In the last phase, you either have to kill your own heart or find another way to defeat… yourself."

"What do you mean?" Allen asked his attention turned away from the locket.

"In the third stage, you basically face off against another version of you, only filled with all your insecurities, hate, doubts, and ultimate fears." Eric replied a miserable look on his face as he remembered Rhode's fears, (yes, he knows what people's fears are when they show up in Nightmare Realm, he controls it after all) her screams of pain as her significant other began playing with her the way she played with her victims, breaking her mind with her own fears. The sight of her face when she broke left a pang in Eric's heart. _How do the other Noahs enjoy this? _Eric wondered as the others left him to rest, putting the locket around his neck and fingering it. Oh how much he wished he could get rid of these god-forsaken powers, but his promise kept him on this Earth and sane. Opening the locket one last time, he whispered, "I will fulfill that promise Kana, I promise," before falling into a fitful sleep.


	17. Chapter 16

It was dark. Very dark. Suddenly, a hospital room fades into view. He sees some figures near the bed. The taller figure motions for him to come over. _Mana._ The name comes from nowhere but he guesses that it belongs to the man. Now closer, he can make out the people. One must be his mother and the other, his father. "Why are you being so quiet Eric?" his mother asked. _Kana._ That must be the name of the woman. _Eric?_ That must be his name. The man-no, Mana picks him up and places him on Kana's bed. Now higher, Eric can now see that Kana is holding a small bundle.

"Do you want to hold your new brother, Allen, Eric?"

Slowly, he nods his head. Ever so gently, she places the bundle in his arms. Using his free hand, Eric moves the blanket a little to see a little pudgy face, with a small mass of light brown hair, staring curiously at him. With its little hands, one deformed with a crystal cross, the baby reaches up and touches Eric's face. Eric smiles at the contact and uses his free hand to play with the giggling baby. The door creaks open and a fat man walks in. _The Millennium Earl._ Eric tenses up; the man's smile scares him along with the name that pops in his head. Eric looks at the man's hands; he's holding a sword. The man takes a step in his direction. Eric grips the baby possessively.

"A bit attached, aren't we?" the fat man says in his creepily high-pitched voice. No, Eric did not like this man at all.

Eric hears the sheets rustle and glimpses behind him. Kana is gripping Mana's hand. Eric turns his attention back to the Earl-only to find him not there. Looking around the room, Eric shrieks as he watches the Earl use his sword to attack Mana and Kana. Tears flow out of his eyes as his vision begins to recede. Now the Earl is holding Allen. Scared, Eric looks down to his arms where Allen was moments before and begins running towards the Earl in hopes of saving him. His vision flickers and Eric is now older (his current self) but still running because Allen (older too) is still in the Earl's arms screaming his name and reaching out towards him frantically trying to get away. "Eric! Help! Eric! Brother help me!" Eric ran as fast as he could, but he seemed to just be getting farther away. The Earl lifts his sword and, smiling, says, "Bye bye, Allen-kun."

"Eric! Eric! Wake up! It's just a nightmare!"Opening his eyes, Eric gasps, now awake and conscious enough to know that Allen was NOT dead and was currently standing right next to him with Lenalee and Lavi.

"It's 'bout time you woke up! You know you really scared us to hell and back with that scream of yours," Lavi says as Eric tries to regulate his breathing. Now calmer, Eric wipes away his sweat and apologizes for waking everyone up. As everyone leaves, Eric silently thought about the drea, for awhile before falling back to sleep.


End file.
